1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for comminuting small ice bodies. The device includes a housing without bottom and top walls with a horizontally extending shaft rotatably mounted in the housing. Beater knives are mounted on the shaft and counterknives are attached to the housing. The distance between the beater knives and the counterknives corresponds to the desired degree of comminution of the ice bodies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices of the above-described type for the comminution of small ice bodies are known, for example, from German Auslegeschrift No. 19 44 142, German Auslegeschrift No. 21 08 031 or German Utility Model No. 69 21 181. These known devices include a driven shaft on which a number of knives are mounted next to each other. Fixed counterknives are arranged between the knives. The knives and counterknives are sickle-shaped and provided with a plurality of points for crushing the ice bodies.
The known devices described above have the disadvantage that they require a relatively powerful drive for the comminuting mechanism because it is entirely impossible to control the number of ice bodies being comminuted at a given time between the knives and counterknives. For the same reason, the grain size of the comminuted ice is also very irregular. The known devices must be designed structurally and with respect to drive power for loads which are rarely reached in practice.
In the known devices in which the ice bodies to be comminuted are introduced into the device from the side, only short structural lengths of the comminuting device and, thus, only a small comminuting capacity are possible.
In addition to the comminuting devices described above, machines are known which directly produce shaved ice which has the appearance of snow. A commercially available device of this type uses a screw which rotates within a vertically extending tube. The tube is subjected to deep freezing and is continuously sprayed with water, so that a layer of ice is formed continuously on the tube. This layer of ice is shaved off by means of the screw. The resulting shaved ice is conveyed to a discharge device by means of the screw. The product obtained with this device is a shaved ice which has a snow-like dull appearance which is considered unacceptable by consumers in many cases.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a device of the above-described type in which the mechanism for comminuting the ice bodies has very small dimensions and requires very small drive power. In addition, a defined grain size of the comminuted ice bodies is to be obtained. Also, it should be possible to expand the device to practically any desired capacity.